The invention relates to the packaging and counting of surgical sponges specifically made with an indicator attachment, usually in the form of a tape or string.
The most common sponge used in surgical procedures is a 4 ply absorbent cotton gauze pad in a number of sizes, stitched with a X-ray detectable material and a 1/2 inch wide tape formed into a 6 inch long loop. The tape is usually coloured blue for easier visibility when soaked in blood, and is securely sewn to anchor the sponge within a large body cavity by a surgical instrument. After usage, the nurses identify this type of sponge from other sponges used in surgery by its blue tape, especially while accounting for them to make sure that none have been inadvertently left within the body.
The tape sponge is usually packaged sterile in packs of five in a pouch. Alternately, it is placed with other products in a non-sterile condition inside various customized procedure packs made up by the hospital or commercial companies before being sterilized as a part of a larger whole unit. In either case, this invention serves to package, count and dispose tape sponges, though in the first instance it also functions as an independent sterile container in place of the plastic pouches generally in use.
All surgical procedures demand an accounting of the articles used in the field of surgery to prevent accidental misplacement within the body. None pose a greater problem than sponges. Operating room regulations therefore demand that they be counted at least three times by two nurses. The sponge is first discarded from the sterile field into a non-sterile bucket. A number of accessory products are then available for two nurses to count together from the bucket. The most common are ordinary plastic bags which are unsafe for this purpose, or an open plastic sheet on the floor which is very unhygienic.
The unsafe aspect of the use of a plastic bag for counting is primarily due to its inability to perform a second count on a batch of sponges, usually five, placed within one bag. If an error accidentally occurs while doing the single count into the bag, that error cannot be corrected by subsequent counts and can result in a serious miscount with harmful consequences. It therefore became necessary to devise more sophisticated products to count sponges, and these specialized sponge counting products are the commercial versions of Dorton's U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,749,237 and 4,234,086 and Cheesman/Alikhan's U.S. Pat No. 4,422,548. Regardless, all these patents teach methods of counting, but none of them or the articles commonly used provide an original package for clean sponges. Olsen's U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,153 describes a sponge tray comprising a separate section for clean sponges and several other compartments for physically separating each soiled sponge for counting.
As stated earlier, a requirement of good accounting policies is to be able to conveniently perform multiple counts of the sponges. To do so, the prior art devised various means to separately maintain each sponge in its own visually distinct compartment to enable the nurses to count them as desired. This invention, with only a single compartment, does not separate the bulk of the sponges for counting but uses the blue tape of each sponge as the sole visual indicator of each sponge and counts only the blue tapes inserted in a specified location, thereby permitting the use of the packaging container as a sponge counter. Since the count is done in the same containers from which the initial count of their original contents was made, the same number of sponges must be placed back into the same number of containers for a count to be correct and the sponges disposed, thereby eliminating the need of a separate product for counting or disposing.
Still further, a sponge counter should be able to confine a soiled and dirty sponge from contaminating the operating room environment by being exposed, while allowing it to be counted until the end of the operation. The present invention efficiently does this by completely enclosing the used sponges, while allowing the visible blue tapes in their locations to be counted any number of times.
Finally the containers may be conveniently stacked one on top of another in a small area. It saves valuable space in the operating room, and makes them easy to weigh on any scale or be viewed by a doctor to estimate blood loss. The containers do not have to be moved around to do a count as is the case with other commercial counters. Safety, sanitation, convenience and economy are the major considerations for a hospital in making a choice of the product to be used for counting sponges. This invention not only fulfils these important criteria of counting in a better manner through a high quality surgical package, but removes the expense and handling of another accessory to count and dispose used tape sponges.